Cabinet ironing board



Patented May 16, 1933 JOHN BUFFELEN, OF TACOMA, WASHINGTON 7 PATENTOFFICE- CABINET mourns; BOARD Application filed October 6, 1931. SerialNo. 567,167.

This invention relates to domestic ironing boards and has specialreference to such ironing boards as are not necessarily built in to theWall of. the dwelling. The objects of my invention are to provide acabinet ironing board which, first, may be hung from the wall in anydesiredplace and may be removed therefrom to another place, if desired;second, ma be adjusted in height from the floor to suit the height ofthe user and to permit it to berused as a table for sewing orotherdomestic use; third,-may be swungnp into the cabinet when not inuse, withoutchanging its height adjustment; fourth, has its outer enddirectly. supported from the floor, independent of its adjustedheight;.and fifth, is simple and cheap to construct, easy. toadjust, andeffective in use. Other objects are to provide improved means forholding the hinge-end ofthe board in the cabinet; to provide an improvedhingesupport; to. permit said hinge-support to have an outward motion asthe ard is swung on its hinge; and to provide an improvedhinge-operating device.

I attain these and other objects by the devices, mechanisms, andarrangements illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1is a vertical section ofthe cabinet, showing the ironing-board swungdown in use and'in. its highest adjusted position, and showing in dottedlines its lowest position and also showing it in dotted lines in stowedposition in the cabinet; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the cabinet, thedoor having been removed, showing the ironing-board in its highestadjusted position and stowed in the cabinet; Figs. 3 and 4 are detailsof the hinge end of the ironing-board in stowed and extended positions,respectively; Fig. 5 is a cross-section of the adjustableleg; Fig. v6 isan elevation of the sliding holder; and Fig. 7 is a section on the line77 in Fig. 4. Similar numerals of reference refer to similar parts throuhout the several views. Cabinet ironing-boards have heretofore beenbuilt intothe wall of the dwelling and are, therefore, not movable atthe convenience. of the housewife and, also, they are fixedly hinged inthe cabinet and can be used only at a fixed height from the fioor, withthe result that, while at a convenient height for some persons, they areeither too high or too low for others, and also, while they may be at aconvenient height for use as an ironing-board, they are usually too highfor use as a table for sewing or other domestic use, or even for ironingon when seated. Other folding ironing-boards have been made which areunattached to the house but these always have to be stowed away in acloset or other unused place.

For these reasons I 'have invented the following described cabinetironing-board which has the advantages of the built-in cabinet as wellas those of the unattached folding ironing-board, and which also isadjustable so that it can be arranged for convenient use by persons ofdiffering heights or for different uses.

Referrin to the drawing, it will be seen that the ca inetrcomprises acomplete shallow box 1, the doorv of which is indicated by the dottedline2 (Fig. 1), and which may be hung upon the wall 3 by means of a nail4 passing through a large hole 5 in the metal hanger plate 6, which issecured in a suitable place on the back of the box 1. The lower end ofeach side wall of the box 1 is provided with a strip 7 inset intotheinner side thereof. This strip 7 forms a vertical groove 8, inconjunction with the side wall of the box 1, and is also provided with aseries of slots 9, extending outward from the said groove 8; These slots9 should be spaced at equal distances apart and: are adapted to receivethe supporting hinge pins 10.of the board as hereinafter set forth.

The ironing-board 11 is of the usual form and dimensions. The lower orinner end of the board is provided with agroove 12, extending across it,adapted to receive the central part 13 of the metal sliding holder bar..This holder comprises a bar having a long straight central part 13 (Fig.6) and two parallel end parts 14 bent at rightangles to the central part13 and thus forming a U shaped bar. The distance between the slidingparts 14 is such as to permit the end of the board 11 to lie freelybetween them. The part 13 of the sliding holder is revolubly held in thegroove 12 in the end edge of the board 11 by any suitable means such asthe strip 15. The ends 14 of the sliding holder are adapted to lie inthe two grooves 8 formed as above described in the lower ends of theside walls of the cabinet 1 and therefore the said sliding bar holds theinner end of the ironing-board 11 in the cabinet at all times butpermits it to slide vertically therein to be adjusted in. height, andalso permits the board 11 to be swung on its hinge into or out of thecabinet on the hinge pins 10, as hereinafter described.

The; under side of the ironing-board 11 is-provided with ahinge deviceadjacent its lower ends and adapted to engage the side walls of the box1 in any pair of the abovedcscribed slots 9. This hinge comprises aseries-f holders or bearings 16 secured to the board 1%1, and a pair ofcoaxial hinge pins. 10 supported: in said bearings 16 and adapted to heslid? axially therein. One of the said, hinge pins 10 isbent or offset,as shown A hinge operating handle or lock 17 is pivotally secured at;1'8t0=the board-11 and, at points equidistant on eachv side of aid pivotpoint 18, is pivotally secured to the adjacent ends of the two hingepins 10. hisv handle 17, therefore, may be manually moved: to force boththe. outer ends of the pins 10 inward: or-outward' from the board 11-,to engage in any opposite pair'of slots9 n the cabinet sides, or to bewithdrawn therefrom; When the pins 10 are thrust outward? into thecorresponding slots 9, they coact therewith to support the inner end. ofthe ironing-board and to provide a: hinge therefor on which it may beturned; to stow it into-the cabinet ortoswing it therefrom int-oextended position for use. But, since the end of' the board 11 is heldinto the cabinet 1: by the slides-14 in, the grooves 8 andsincethe pins10 are not coaxial with saidpart 13 ofthe'slide, it follows that thepins 10 must be. permitted to slide in the slots 9 while the board isbeing swung up or dowmthereon, and that the sliding holders; let will?also slide up. and down in the grooves-8 atthe same time. Thus it willbe seen that the end: of the board '11 is held firmlyinthecabinet andcanbe adjusted in height. therein and, in any such adjusted position,the boandcanbe swung into or out Oi the cabinet.

However, if the inner end of the ironingboard? 11 may be thus adjustedin height, it is-neeessary to provide a similar andcorrespondingadjustmentof the outer end thereof whenit is extended, orinoperable position, In! orderto accomplish this purpose F I. provide acompound leg, secured to the undersideofitheironing-board 11 near itsouter end, by means of a hinge 19. This compound leg comprises a pair ofseparated parallel complementary legs 20, secured to gether to form aunitary structure, and a single central leg 21. These parts 20 and 21are interconnected by means of tongueand-groove connections (Fig. orother suitable means, whereby they are secured together but whereby thecentral leg 21 may be slid to extend to a less or greater distance fromthehinge-19; A pin 22 passes through coaxial. holes in the legs 20 andthrough any one of a plurality of holes 23 in the legs 21. The holes 23are spaced correspondingly to the spacing of the slots 9 in the cabinet1 and are positioned such that,for each position of the pins in theslots 9-thereis a corresponding position of the-pin 22 in the holes23=and, when so adjusted, the ironingboard: 11- will? liehorizontally.In practice I prefer to number the slots 9* consecutively and toplacecorresponding numbers onthe legs adjacent the upper end of the leg21, so-that when the pins 10 are in any numbered slots9, the leg 21 maybe slid between the legs 20 until its upper end is opposite thecorresponding number on the legs 20 and the pin 22 may then be passedthrough the hole 23, before the table 11 is swungdown out of thecabinet, and when so swung down will be horizontal.

Thus it will be seen that my improved cabinet may be hung on a wall inany de sired. place and may be removed from such place by lifting it offthe nail 4 in the wall; that its height may be adjusted by turning thehandle 17 on its pivot 18 to withdraw the ends of the hinging pins 10from contact in the slots 9, and thenmoving it up or down in the cabinetto the desiredlevel 1 and the handle 17 turned in a reversed directiontothrust theends of the pins 10 into the corresponding slots 9; that itsleg length may then be adjusted by removing the pin 22 from the hole 23and slidingthe leg 21 upon down in the legs 20 and reinserting the pin22 in the corresponding hole 23; and that then the ironing-board 11- maybe swung down on the pins 10 and is held in place in the cabinet, at alltimes, by the sliding holders 14 in the grooves 8; The ironing-board 11is therefore supported while in use by the pins 10, the cabinet 1, andthe legs 20 and 21.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-:

1. A cabinet ironing-board comprising a supported cabinet; a rack formedin each side wall of the cabinet; a vertical groove in each side Wall ofthe cabinet; an ironingboard; retractiblehinge pins mounted on the innerend of said ironing-board, incontact with corresponding parts of saidracks,-

whereby the inner end of said ironing-board is supported; a slidingholder mounted on the inner end of said ironing board and having slidingcontact with said grooves in the cabinet, and adapted to hold the end ofthe ironing-board in the cabinet; and an adjustable leg pivoted to saidironing-board and adapted to support the outer end thereof.

2. A cabinet ironing-board comprising a supported cabinet; a verticalgroove formed in each side Wall of said cabinet; a rack formed in eachside wall of said cabinet and comprising a series of spaced parallelslots, each slot being adjacent to and at right-' angles to said groove;an ironing-board; a bar rotatably secured across the inner end of saidironing-board and having parallel ends bent at right-angles thereto,said ends being mounted in said vertical grooves in said cabinet andbeing adapted to freely slide therein and to hold the inner end of saidironing-board in said cabinet; a pair of hinge pins coaxially mounted onsaid iron- 1ng-board ad acent its inner end; means for moving said hingepins axially into or out of engagement with corresponding slots in saidracks; and an adjustable leg pivoted to said ironing-board and adaptedto support the outer end thereof.

3. A cabinet ironing-board comprising a supported cabinet; a verticalgroove formed in each side Wall of said cabinet; a rack formed in eachside wall of said cabinet and comprising a series of spaced parallelslots, each slot being adjacent to and at right-angles to said groove;an ironingboard having a groove extending across the inner end; a barrotatably secured in said groove and having parallel ends bent atright-angles thereto, said ends being mounted in said vertical groovesin said cabinet and being adapted to freely slide therein and to holdthe inner end of said ironing-board in said cabinet; a pair ofhinge-pins coaxially mounted on said ironing-board adjacent its innerend; means for moving said hingepins axially into or out of engagementwith corresponding slots in said racks; and an adjustable leg pivoted tosaid ironing-board and adapted to support the outer end there- J OHN-BUFFELEN.

